Now, with more data and two reports about what went on in the first three months of the year, its clear that growth did not hit the 3.2 percent rate that economists had once expected.

But BNP Paribas SA economist Yelena Shulyatyeva tells Bloomberg News that "the economy is still okay." She expects it will "pick up in the second half as the sequestration effect fades." By that, she's referring to automatic federal spending cuts that appear to have been holding growth back.

The economy barely expanded in fourth-quarter 2012, when there was growth at a 0.4 percent annual rate. It has, however, registered at least slight growth for 15 straight quarters.